2012 Trend: A Chevron Year

I just got my hands on a new photo of an old project, which got me thinking about trends, design and how ideas pulse in and out of consciousness.

Here, we have a chevron, or a flame stitch pattern. It extends as a design motif back to ancient Hindu temples, old Hopi Pottery, French Art Deco, hippie ponchos and on into the night. We've been using this in decorative painting for several years, and for some reason this summer it reached a tipping point. Chevrons were everywhere.

And I mean everywhere — on throw pillows, clutch purses, cell phone covers, and especially the loose summer dresses on every other woman walking down the street. I would have started taking cell phone pictures of all those different dresses just to prove my point, but I'd be writing this with a black eye.

Do I think the fad will fade? Sure, just like mutton chop sleeves and neon sweaters from the 80s faded. Oh, but look — everyone's wearing neon again. That aside, I do think good ideas and good design last more than a season. For example, I'm still mesmerized by Roman floor patterns and frescoes that were created 2000 years ago.

These are actually four sliding doors in front of an office, and the first thing you see when you open the front door. For this project we chose a base coat of Ralph Lauren Regent Metallic Silver Bell RM 45, and continued with a nice set of neutrals determined by the rest of the apartment — Benjamin Moore's French Beret 1610, Temptation 1609, Violet Pearl 1451, and Hampshire Rocks 1450.

I'm less-is-more in the color department when it comes to these things, and as with all those summer chevron dresses (Navy and White) I think it would start to get a little crazy with too many competing colors. And just when I thought I'd had enough, I looked at these photos again and thought, ooh — let's make another one…